While Palestinian officials, Turkey and Iran accuse Israel of 'brutally massacring' peaceful protesters, IDF says most killed in Friday's border clashes were in fact terrorists; Masab Salul, a member of Hamas's military wing, and Mohammed Rabaya killed after opening fire at IDF soldiers from Gaza border; Israel says it has their bodies.

Israel holds the bodies of two of the terrorists who opened fire at IDF forces on Friday in the northern Gaza Strip, it was reported by Al-Hayat and confirmed by outgoing Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai on Sunday.

Masab Salul, 23, a resident of Az-Zawayda and a member of Hamas's military wing, shot at IDF soldiers on the other side of the border along with Mohammed Rabaya.The troops responded with gunfire at the terrorists and tank and aircraft fire at Hamas and Islamic Jihad observation positions in the north and south of the Gaza Strip.

"A common value in Judaism and Islam is to bury the dead," Mordechai noted in a Facebook post in Arabic, saying Israel does not intend to return the bodies of the two until Israelis held by Hamas, both deceased and alive, are returned to their families."Israel will not rest and the residents of Gaza will not know peace until the Israelis are returned from the Gaza Strip and our soldiers will be brought for burial in Israel," he threatened, saying the bodies of the two terrorists now join those captured in operation protective edge and the October 2017 detonation of a terror tunnel on the Gaza border, totaling 24 in number.Mordechai then directly addressed the residents of Gaza, telling them Hamas is robbing them of their right to bury their dead. "The Hamas terror organization that controls Gaza does not care either about the living nor about the dead, it prevents their proper Islamic burial," He accused.Simcha Goldin, the father of fallen IDF soldier Lt. Hadar Goldin, whose body is still being held by Hamas, said Israel should keep the two's bodies as leverage."Israel must use the bodies as a bargaining chip … and hold them until a solution is found and our soldiers' (bodies) are returned," he said.

Salul's family said they learned of his death when they saw his photo in Palestinian media. While there were reports of the funerals of 15 other Palestinians killed on Friday in clashes on the border as part of the "March of Return," there were no reports of Salul's funeral. Hamas and its military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, made no comment on the matter.A Palestinian source in Gaza claimed the body of the second terrorist who carried out the shooting attack is also being held by Israel.The IDF said Saturday that at least ten Palestinians out of the 16 killed by Israeli gunfire on the Gaza border Friday were terrorist, eight of which were members of Hamas, which said earlier that day only five of which were its members.The IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, provided details on each terrorist killed via Twitter, showing that while five were indeed from the Sunni terror organization's military wing, several members of the organization and other jihadists were omitted from their statement.

1. Masab Salul, 23 years old, from Az-Zawayda, a member of Hamas's military wing. Shot by the IDF after firing at Israeli forces alongside another terrorist.

2. Sari Walid Abu Odeh, 28, from Beit Hanoun, a member of Hamas's military wing.

3. Jihad Ahmed Fraina, 35, from Sheikh Radwan, a commander of a company in Hamas's military wing.

4. Ahmed Ibrahim Ashour Odeh, 19, from Gaza, a member of Hamas's military wing.

5. Hamdan Isma'il Abu Amsha, 25, from Beit Hanoun, a Hamas operative.

6. Mahmoud Saadi Rahmi, 33, from Shuja'iyya, a Hamas operative.

7. Mohammed Naeem Abu Amr, 27, from Shuja'iyya, a Hamas military operative working in the excavation of terror tunnels.8. Abdel Fattah Abdel Nabi, 20, from Beit Lahia, a member of Hamas's military wing. Caught on camera being shot in the back by an Israeli sniper, footage the IDF alluded to being "edited and fabricated."

Despite this, in view of past precedents, it is quite possible that the findings of the investigations of Friday's events, alongside footage and testimonies from Gaza, may lead to the opening of a Military Police investigation into some of the deaths.Operational investigations of this nature have not been objected to in principle or criticized by military commanders in the IDF's Gaza Division, primarily because of their importance as an additional internal inspection tool for the conduct of the forces and for promoting international legitimacy.

As part of it, the IDF is looking into whether any of the other Palestinians shot dead Friday were terrorists as well and into the exact circumstances of their deaths.

One such person was Bader al-Sabbagh, 20. The IDF did not list him on the list of the ten terrorists.

His brother Muhammad, 30, told the British daily The Guardian that he had seen Bader die. "He said, 'I'm bored, I'm fed up with this life,'" he recounted. "He asked me for a cigarette, took two puffs, and then a bullet hit him in the head. I carried him to the ambulance, but he died."According to him, the two stood between the group of protesters who threw stones at IDF forces and the demonstrators at the back, where thousands of women, men and children gathered."He did not do anything, he just stood next to me," Muhammad claimed.

Land Day is just the first in several incendiary events likely to spark further violence in the coming weeks, culminating in Nakba Day, commemorated on May 15—the anniversary of Israel’s establishment, known to Palestinians as "the Nakba," or catastrophe.

Another, the Palestinian Prisoners' Day, in which Palestinians express solidarity with Palestinian prisoners incarcerated in Israel and their families, is commemorated annually on April 17, the date in which the first Palestinian security prisoner was released in a prisoner exchange deal in 1974.

As in recent protests, demonstrators are expected to congregate near Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus and other Palestinian towns and villages. There, too, serious confrontations with Israeli security forces may lead to casualties.

On Saturday the confrontations were much less intense and ended with 25 Palestinian lightly-to-moderately injured.

In contrast, on Friday, hundreds of Palestinians were injured, aside from the 16 who were killed. Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip said that 284 wounded were treated that day, most of them from shooting.

A spokesperson for the hospital claimed that 70 of them were girls aged 11-18.

In the coming days, the confrontations on the border are expected to continue at a lower rate during the week and to intensify on Fridays after noon prayers. In any case, it is estimated that the number of people in future demonstrators leading to Nakba Day will not approach the 30 thousand who congregated last Friday.

The protest tents erected in five locations on the Israel-Gaza border are set to stay occupied throughout.

On Wednesday evening, the Israeli military returned the body of a Palestinian man who was killed in Jericho by a group of Israeli soldiers who shot the unarmed man at point blank range and beat him repeatedly until he died.

The military initially lied about the circumstances of Yassin Saradeeh’s death, but a surveillance video was released by a local business that captured the entire incident on film.

After holding his corpse for 36 days, the military turned the body over to family members at the Jericho checkpoint, where hundreds of Palestinians gathered to mourn his death and to challenge the circumstances in which he was killed.

Yassin Omar Saradeeh, 33,was killed on February 22nd by Israeli soldiers who shot him, then beat him repeatedly while he was lying on the ground.

According to witnesses, Yassin heard a commotion at his uncle Khamis Hattab’s house at around 4:00 in the morning, and rushed to see what was going on. The soldiers ambushed and shot him, then beat him up, including hitting him with their rifles.

The Israeli army abducted the severely wounded Palestinian, and several hours later, said that he died from his wounds.

Ismael al-Masri, Yassin’s brother-in-law, said that a group of soldiers jumped at Yassin, and started beating him up on various parts of his body, including his stomach and back, and dragged him away.

It is worth mentioning that a surveillance video of the attack shows a muzzle flash the moment the soldiers jumped at the young man, just as they began to beat him. The video shows 6 Israeli soldiers attacking Yassin and brutally beating him up using their riffles’ butts and feet.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) called for an immediate and impartial investigation into the circumstances of his death, expressing concerns that the Israeli forces might have tortured and beaten him while in custody, leading to his death.

At approximately 09:30 on the same day, the family received a phone call from the Palestinian Military Liaison telling then that the Israeli Liaison informed them of the death of their son, which the army claimed was due to gas inhalation and seizures.

His family said to PCHR’s fieldworker that their son had not suffered from any health issues before his abduction.

PCHR noted in their report that Palestinian civilians who are abducted by the Israeli military are frequently subjected to severe beating, physical and psychological torture, and inhumane and degrading treatment.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Rayan al-Ali, who participated in the autopsy of Yassin, said that the Palestinian man was killed by a bullet in his abdomen, which was fired at point-blank range.

The bullet, which struck Yassin, cause massive internal bleeding, and severed the left common iliac artery, then exiting through his back.

The autopsy also revealed multiple fractures in the pelvis, in addition to various cuts and bruises indicative of having been beaten.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the bodies of 17 Palestinians killed by the Israeli military remain in the custody of the Israeli military, which refuses to return the bodies to their families.

According to the Muslim religion (which is the religion of the majority of Palestinians), a person’s body must be buried as quickly after death as possible, in order for that person’s spirit to be at peace. But the Israeli authorities have prevented the burial of the following 17 people, some of whom have had their corpses frozen in an Israeli morgue for nearly two years:

Many Palestinians in Bethlehem suffered breathing problems after Israeli occupation forces (IOF) quelled a peaceful march demanding the return of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs held in Israeli jails.

The participants in the march carried photos of martyrs and Palestinian flags while heading to the northern entrance to Bethlehem in the southern West Bank.

Many of the protesters choked on tear gas as IOF soldiers fired tear gas grenades directly towards the participants.

Several human rights organizations held such events across the West Bank in order to pressure Israeli occupation authorities for returning martyrs’ bodies to their families.

Another similar event was staged before the headquarters of International Committee of the Red Cross in al-Khalil where Palestinian speakers stressed the importance to exert serious efforts in this regard through activating the role of international human rights organizations.

It is routinely hailed as Israel's last line of defence against ultra-nationalist legislation. But does the country's Supreme Court deserve its reputation as an upholder of liberal values?

Recent cases have illustrated how the court, rather than undermining the systematic rights abuses experienced by Palestinians, in fact oils the machine of occupation.

Earlier this month, the Knesset passed a law granting the interior minister the power to revoke the permanent residency status of Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem if they are "disloyal" to the state of Israel. Under the law, "the state can deport anyone whose residency status is withdrawn".

The law was passed following a Supreme Court ruling last year that, on the face of it, represented a victory for four Palestinians who had had their residency rescinded for their political activities.

Partners in oppression

While the court overturned that revocation, it also "froze the ruling for half a year to give the Knesset a chance to pass legislation that would allow the rescinding of their residency status".

In other words, the state and the Supreme Court are effectively partners in a strikingly oppressive law that flies in the face of international obligations and Palestinians’ human rights.

Or take another example: that of the Israeli practice of withholding the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces while conducting attacks or alleged attacks, preventing families from burying their loved ones.

The record shows that, far from representing a refuge for Palestinians or even Jewish Israeli human rights advocates, the Supreme Court facilitates, rather than rolls back, abuses

Last month, the Supreme Court agreed to a request by the state to hold a further hearing on the policy, "delaying the scheduled repatriation of the bodies to their families".

The court had earlier ruled that "the state has no authority to hold the bodies of Palestinians as bargaining chips, and that it must transfer bodies to the families of the deceased for burial", as summarised by legal rights centre Adalah.

Yet some weeks later, the same court accepted the Israeli state's request to hold an additional hearing to challenge this ruling, which will take place in June – and also granted the state’s request to delay the return of the bodies until a final decision is reached.

Adalah, along with the Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, were understandably furious, noting in a statement: "The Supreme Court rendered a decision that makes Israel’s ongoing violation of international humanitarian law possible."

‘License to torture’

The examples abound: last December, Israel's Supreme Court justices rejected a petition to save a Palestinian primary school in the occupied West Bank threatened with demolition; the school, the court said, was an illegitimate attempt "to create facts on the ground".

That same month, an even more disturbing decision was issued, when the Supreme Court rejected a petition brought on behalf of a Palestinian prisoner who had been tortured during interrogation – as, unusually, even the state itself had acknowledged.

In a ruling that saw the court take "the state's side on all of the key issues before it", the Supreme Court effectively redefined torture so as to permit it. "The definition of certain interrogation methods as 'torture' is dependent on concrete circumstances," claimed Judge Uri Shoham, "even when these are methods recognised explicitly in international law as 'torture.'"

In response, the UN's special rapporteur on torture, Nils Melzer, said: "This ruling sets a dangerous precedent, gravely undermining the universal prohibition of torture … The Supreme Court has essentially provided them [Shin Bet agents] with a judicially sanctioned 'license to torture.'"

Setting the bar low

Time and time again, the Israeli Supreme Court gives its seal of approval to legislation and state practices that violate international law and human rights conventions. The chilling, anti-democratic anti-boycott law of 2011? Upheld. Confiscation of Palestinian land in occupied East Jerusalem? Upheld.

It is, in fact, a rare occasion where the court rules against the state: data presented in May 2017 showed that the Supreme Court rejected 87 percent of the more than 9,000 petitions filed against government decisions between 1995 and 2016.

Myths abound, however. In a typical example, an October 2017 AP report described the court as "widely seen as a guardian of the country's founding democratic principles", under "fierce pressure from political hard-liners" opposed to “what they see as the court's overreach and liberal slant".

It is true that Israel's hard-right political factions have long been unhappy with the Supreme Court. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked recently oversaw the appointment of two new justices, in a move widely reported as giving the court a “more conservative” make-up.

But to assess the court's record based on the perceptions of pro-settler ultra-nationalists is to set the bar a little low, to say the least. Moreover, the "liberals" of the judiciary and their right-wing foes have more in common than either would care to admit.

Occasional victories

Last week, a Knesset committee advanced the final version of a "Jewish nation state" bill that, according to Haaretz, is intended to lay the groundwork for the Supreme Court "to give preference to Israel’s Jewish character over its democratic values should the two conflict in the courts".

Except that is something the Supreme Court already can do, and has done, interpreting a key clause in Basic Law: Human Dignity and Liberty in such a way as to give "significant weight to the nature of Israel as a Jewish state and its goals, at the expense of … fundamental rights".

Thus, the record shows that, far from representing a refuge for Palestinians or even Jewish Israeli human rights advocates, the Supreme Court facilitates, rather than rolls back, abuses. Occasional victories are exactly that; the court is a core part of, and reinforces, the discriminatory status quo.

- Ben White is the author of Israeli Apartheid: A Beginner's Guide and Palestinians in Israel: Segregation, Discrimination and Democracy. He is a writer for Middle East Monitor and his articles have been published by Al Jazeera, al-Araby, Huffington Post, the Electronic Intifada, the Guardian's Comment is Free and more.

The Israeli High Court on Thursday issued decision refusing to return the body of the Palestinian fisherman who was shot dead by an IOF naval patrol two weeks ago.

Israeli media sources said that the court acceded to a request from the Goldin family, whose son Hadar was captured by Hamas’ armed wing.

Following the ruling, the Goldin family said in a statement, “Beyond being a legal injunction, this is a moral order to the government of Israel to stop awarding prizes and gifts to Hamas at a time when it holds soldiers and citizens in… contravention of international law.

“It’s up to us, as a country, to change the balance once and for all — holding on to kidnapped people cannot be a bargaining chip but a burden for which the enemy must pay a price,” the family said.

Palestinians demanded, on Wednesday, that Israel release the bodies of their dead sons it has been holding, some for decades.

Families of Palestinians killed by Israelis, and whose corpses are still held by Israel, demanded in a protest at the Red Cross office in Ramallah, from Israel, to free the bodies so that their families can bury them properly.

“We are here to demand from the Red Cross and other international legal and human rights organizations to pressure the occupation authority to release the bodies of our martyrs so that we can bury them according to our religion,” said Mohammad Sbeihat, head of the Palestinian National Committee designated for this task.

He said, according to WAFA, that Israel is holding 253 corpses since 1968 and 18 since 2015.

“Withholding the bodies of the martyrs is unjustified, immoral and inhumane,” he said.

Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned a hearing session to decide on an appeal filed by Detainees and Ex-detainees Committee demanding the return of the body of the Palestinian martyr Yasin al-Saradih from March 07 to 14.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Committee said that Israeli Attorney General asked the court to postpone the appeal hearing session in order to give more time to the families of Israeli soldiers captured in Gaza to object the returning of the body of the Palestinian slain Saradih.

Saradih was shot and killed two weeks ago by Israeli forces who kept beating him brutally to death, shortly after being arrested.